From the beginning of the 1960-61 season,
England's preferred shirt manufacturer was Bukta, but the shirt still appeared
to be the same v-necked t-shirt with the emblem sewn
on that they had worn since
1954. The practice of adding the opponent's name and
the year
in a scroll underneath the emblem was discontinued, whilst the numbers on the
reverse were no longer in the Umbro style.

After a decade of the shirt number being colour-coordinated with the socks,
this period saw both red and navy blue numbers being used without an obvious
pattern.

There was obviously some debate as to what colour the socks should be.
They began the season in the same red pair with white band around the calf,
that had been the first choice since 1957, but they then tried out three
different designs in consecutive matches before reverting back to the trusty
red pair for their end-of-season games in Portugal and Italy. The
following season saw a couple more variations, but it was the white pair, with
a red and a blue stripe, that finally got the nod as the preferred design in
the run-up to the 1962 World Cup in Chile. White
was presumably felt to be a colour that fewer teams clashed with than red and
this decision was borne out by the fact that white has been well and truly
established as the first choice sock colour ever since. There was still
further tinkering to be done, however. At the 1962 World Cup quarter-final,
against Brazil, half the England team turned out in plain white socks, though
it was possible to hide the stripes from view by creating a large turnover. The red
and blue stripes were eventually discarded for the 1964-65 season, creating
the most simple strip combination possible of white and navy blue.

The introduction of short sleeves in 1954 was certainly a step forward in
terms of lightweight attire, but it was still recognised that England had to
play some games in cold weather.
This was possibly behind the reason to
introduce a long-sleeved version of the v-neck shirt in 1963, to be worn
alongside the short sleeves, depending on each player's preference. 1963
was also the year of the Football Association's centenary and
to commemorate this, a special emblem was introduced, whereby the words
CENTENARY YEAR appeared above the traditional Three Lions, and 1863-1963
appeared below it on the same embroidered patch on a white background.

This shirt was then replaced by a
round-necked
long-sleeved version for the F.A.'s Centenary match, but the short-sleeved v-neck was
reinstated for two more games at the end of the 1963-64 season, before being
replaced again by the round neck for Bukta's last season as England's kit
supplier.

Thanks to Dave Moor
and Simon Monks from
www.historicalkits.co.uk for clarifying the colour of the socks worn
against Wales in 1960.

Matches in Which England Wore the
1960 Home White Uniform

1960-61

Please
note, between
1957 and 1961, England's first choice socks were red with a white band
around the calf.

England wore the white home shirt and blue shorts with white socks with
a red and a blue stripe around the tops, against Portugal.

354

22 November 1961

1-1 vs. Northern
Ireland, Empire Stadium, Wembley, London

BC

HD

355

4 April 1962

3-1 vs. Austria, Empire Stadium, Wembley, London

Fr

HW

356

14 April 1962

0-2 vs. Scotland, Hampden
Park, Mount Florida, Glasgow

BC

AL

Please
note,although the red socks continued to be worn at several
matches up until 1963, the white socks, with a red and a blue stripe across
the tops, first worn against Mexico, in match no. 347, began to take
precedence from hereon in.

Please
note, throughout the F.A.’s Centenary year of 1963, a commemorative
emblem was worn, whereby the words CENTENARY YEAR appeared above the
traditional Three Lions, and 1863-1963 appeared below it.